vexilla reges prodeunt inferni
by peppermint quartz
Summary: Loki and Thor reign together. AU, gang violence, sibling incest.
1. Chapter 1

Loki knows the power of desire.

A flutter of lashes, a coy smile, a carefully calculated casual glance... That always draws the mark closer, and then there's the payoff. He's done this so often it doesn't affect him anymore when the mark curls an arm about his slender waist and pulls him close, or when the mark whispers lewd promises in his ear, or when the mark kisses him sloppily. He knows - it's ingrained knowledge - that it's all a show, and the payoff's what matters.

* * *

Loki knows the power of desire.

He can keep his mark on the edge for hours, begging to be taken or to be released. He can croon sweet nothings until the mark is on his or her knees. He can lash and cut and bind them until they are wrecks, and they will still crawl back to him, begging, begging for more, and then Loki may just reward their devotion. He can do all this without ever removing his clothes, for he knows the power of desire is in the yearning and the craving for more. He knows that desire resides in the head and the heart and the blood - rich and thick and full of life - and desire overrides all logic if given enough fuel.

* * *

Loki knows the power of desire.

He understands that it is desire that draws him towards the little apartment on the fourth floor. He goes only on Thursdays, and only on Thursdays does Loki acknowledge that he himself is a creature of desire. Delirious and dreamy every time Thursday approaches, he understands that he is destined to come back every week, to enter that little apartment with its thick red drapes and gold-accented furniture. It is lightning singing in his soul and heat pulsing in his veins that pulls him into the room on the right, and there is the heart of his desire.

The tall, blond man will turn to regard him, always sounding a little surprised, as if Loki hasn't been coming here for years and years and years on Thursdays, shedding his clothes as he saunters from main door to bedroom, and will always stand before this man in his completeness. This man will gesture for Loki to come closer only after looking Loki over for signs of hurt or injury, and Loki will always amble over with a calmness he never feels.

He understands that he will always belong to this man. This man with his bright smile and dark blue eyes, the broad shoulders and gentle touches.

"Terence is gone," says Loki, tilting his face up. They are almost of equal height; the breath of the other man washes over his face, sweet and beer-tainted. "They will not find him until next Friday."

"That's very good news."

Loki shivers as the man runs a hand along Loki's spine. It is a gentle touch by a hand which has probably broken dozens of backs; it is a tender caress by a hand which has signalled men to open fire on a shipping container full of refugees. It is a hand that has pulled triggers of weapons and been sprayed with hot crimson blood countless times.

It is a hand that can easily kill Loki, and Loki understands that he will give in should it ever happen.

And then Loki closes his eyes and gives in to the delicious madness of passion when the large man pushes him to the bed, looms over him as he has always done. The man will kiss him, and they will make love, and just when Loki thinks he will be driven entirely insane he will hear this man whisper the one word - (_"brother"_) - that drags him back to reality and sanity, enough for Loki to go on one more week playing others' desires against themselves, knowing all the while that his own is a knife angled at his willing throat.

* * *

Loki knows very well the power of desire.

So does Thor.


	2. Chapter 2

In the glow of the morning sun, Thor studies his brother.

Loki has always been slender and wiry. He is deceptively strong - most of his opposition made the mistake of underestimating Loki because he is so thin, and none walked away from their misconception - and his lean muscles lend faint definition to his body.

Yet in the warm sunlight, Loki seems too vulnerable, too thin and far too young. Thor sips his beer and flicks a dark tendril of hair from Loki's brow.

"Thor?" murmurs Loki, turning his face up slightly and smiling sleepily at the older man. "I wasn't expecting you."

Thor smiles in greeting. "You've been missing meals again, Hogun tells me."

"I'm sorry. I was checking a new source and lost track of time. Did you know that in Afghanistan-"

Thor interrupts, "Get up and eat, Loki."

"Mmmph." That was a protest. Loki burrows back into his pillows.

Thor drinks his beer - nothing wrong with beer in the morning, since he's been up from three a.m. - and crushes the can easily. He does not enjoy wine, but he knows Loki doesn't like the smell or taste of beer (except on Thor's tongue) in the house. "I've made pancakes."

"Can't I have pudding? Or maybe chocolate?" whines Loki, the kid brother yet again for all that he is now twenty-nine. "And I really want to sleep in. It's Saturday."

Loki is not given a chance to linger in bed, however, because Thor pulls him out with one hand and marches him to the kitchen. Thor pulls a chair and Loki sits obediently. In front of him is a huge stack of pancakes with chocolate syrup. Loki adds a lot more, painting calorie-laden smears all over the golden, fluffy goodness.

"You'll get diabetes sooner or later," says Thor, planting himself in the facing chair.

"And you'll take care of me then." Loki is completely unrepentant.

Thor smirks. "Banner is working on a cure for diabetes already."

"Going legit, are we?"

"Pharmaceuticals earn well, brother mine."

Loki glances at Thor from under long lashes. "And Earnest Greyham learned well from _you_, brother mine."

"So he's trying his wings, hmm? Westfield? Or is he testing Nacre?"

Loki shrugs.

Thor smiles. "Would you like to do it?"

"He's not worth my time or effort," says Loki, gesturing for the apple juice imperiously. Thor passes it to him.

"It is worth mine." The blond man sits back and his gaze turns dark with anticipation. "Let's watch Clint and Natasha do it then."

"Both of them?"

"You've been training them. Think of it as an observation. Give them a grade."

The dark-haired man smiles thinly. "They'll pass with flying colours, brother. Nothing they'll like more than showing off to the boss."

Thor laughs, a sincere rumble of mirth, and Loki smirks.

He's caught sight of the pudding on the counter.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki was five years old when Sif, out of some young child's fancy, decided to kiss him on the cheek.

That was the first time Loki ever saw his beloved older brother lose his temper. The terrifying sight did not scare Loki, however, even though Mother had spanked Thor for punching Sif (to be fair, Sif also bit Thor) and Father punished Thor with no dinner and no going out to play for a week.

That night, after Loki was sent to bed and Mother had come in to kiss him goodnight (somewhat absentmindedly), Loki slipped out of his bedroom and into his brother's across the hallway.

Thor had been red-eyed and sniffly, but he thanked Loki for the bread roll and apple the younger boy gave him.

"Why did you hit Sif, Thor?" asked Loki softly afterwards, sitting in front of Thor as his eight-year-old brother brushed his dark hair.

Thor stopped. He said, "I didn't like her."

"Why? You said Sif is the prettiest girl in your class." Loki hadn't been happy to hear that, and had cut off the hair of all of Sif's dolls when they went to her house for a playdate. He hadn't been sorry then. He wondered if Thor was sorry now.

"She used to be. Now she's annoying." Thor was actually pouting, but even at five, Loki knew better than to tease his brother about that.

"Why?"

"Because she kissed you," said Thor fiercely. "She has girl cooties. She might have given you cooties. I don't want my little brother to have girl cooties."

That made Loki feel happy all over and he twisted around to look at his older brother. "But I don't have girl cooties, right? I've bayved."

"You won't ever have girl cooties," declared Thor and hugged Loki. "I'll protect you."

"But Mother kisses us goodnight." That bothered Loki. "And Mother's a girl."

"Mother's a mother," corrected Thor. "And mothers don't have cooties. They make cooties go away."

"And brothers?" Loki asked hopefully.

Thor brightened. "That's right!" He planted his hands on either side of Loki's head (a little too forcefully and making Loki's ears ring) and pulled Loki's face forward. Then Thor planted a big kiss on each of Loki's cheeks. "Brothers can't give brothers cooties."

Loki smiled and then yawned. He rested his head on Thor's shoulder. "I don't wanna go back to my room. There's a big snake under the bed, and Mother isn't going to want to tuck me in again and the snake will eat me."

"Then I'll tuck you in." Thor patted Loki's hair. "I'm not afraid of big snakes." He was, actually, and Loki knew. He remembered how tightly Thor had held his hand when Father got his friend to take them to the zoo, and they saw the big snake in the glass box.

Instead of saying that Thor was fearful of the creature under the bed, Loki said, "You're not to come out of your room, Thor, Father won't be happy if you did."

Thor sagged. Then he whispered, "Maybe you can stay here instead then?"

"Okay."

And the next morning, when Frigga found Loki curled up next to Thor in that little cot, she decided to put extra blueberries in their pancakes.

* * *

Loki had been twelve when he kissed someone of his own volition.

It was Christmas, they were at a fancy mansion of one of Father's friends for a party, and Loki had found someone interesting and fascinating to listen and talk to. Thirteen-year-old Charles was funny and a little arrogant, but arrogant in a way that didn't make him annoying, just part of his charm, and he was very, very clever. He had already skipped three grades. He liked to talk about genetics and natural selection and all that, and it was like he knew what he was talking about. He admired Loki when Loki spoke of the Norse sagas and Shakespeare and the Romantic poets. Loki missed talking with clever people - those in his class preferred to talk about pop music or some silly celebrity gossip, and Loki found no friends among them. Charles was more fun, and he was kind of cute with freckled chubby cheeks and brilliant blue eyes.

They found themselves holed up in Charles's room, sharing a platter of cold cuts and roast meats taken from the main table, along with some golden drink that Charles asserted was whiskey. It tasted funny, and there was a strange tingly warmth all over his body. He knew Father was talking with Mr Marko, who was supposed to be Charles's dad, but Charles's last name was Xavier, so Loki had to ask why that was the case.

"Kurt Marko is my stepfather," said Charles. "My father died three years ago."

He looked so sad that Loki could feel a twinge of sympathy in his heart. He adored his father, and couldn't imagine having to say farewell to him. Without quite knowing how to comfort him, Loki leaned forward and brushed his lips over Charles's cheek.

"Oh." Charles blushed bright red, and that made Loki grin.

The older boy chuckled then and shifted, so that they could kiss again, and Loki could feel his heart thumping painfully against his ribcage. Charles carefully moved forward, and so did Loki, and when they touched their lips together again it was quite awkward and electrifying and delightful in nerve-tingling ways. Loki closed his eyes; it was amazing how right this felt-

"Loki!" The door banged open and both boys sprang aside.

Thor rushed in and yanked Loki away from Charles. The bigger boy glared at Charles, and his grip on Loki tightened until it started to hurt.

"Don't touch him," warned Thor thickly at the blue-eyed boy, now staring at them in some sort of confused hurt.

Loki tried to pry Thor's hand off. "Let go!"

"Shut up," Thor ordered. He turned back to Charles. "If I see you touch him again, I will throw you down the stairs personally. Don't _ever_ touch him again."

Charles, nervous and frightened, tried to smile. "I didn't mean-"

Thor's foot snapped out and kicked the tumbler of whiskey into the wall beside Charles. A sliver of glass sliced past Charles's cheek and he exclaimed. Before Charles could stand, however, Thor was hunkering down over the boy, dragging Loki to a crouch next to him. His other hand was gripping Charles's shirt.

"You brought my brother here with whiskey," hissed Thor. "You're lucky I didn't break your goddamn back, Xavier. Stay away from Loki, you freak."

Thor all but dragged Loki away from Charles's room, never speaking until he shoved Loki into the family car and then ordered the chauffeur to send Loki home.

Loki sported a large, hand-shaped bruise on his left forearm for nearly two weeks. Thor never said he was sorry.

Charles never spoke to Loki again.

* * *

Loki was seventeen when he dared to smuggle Tony into his room. Father was out on negotiations, while Mother was at a women's only event downtown (some charity that the mob ran as part of their money-laundering; Loki knew enough to know less). Thor was back at college; Volstagg or Hogun had driven him, so he knew no one was at home. Tony and Loki had been drinking something quite vile - Tony had sneaked it from his father's drinks cabinet - and they were giggling softly while stumbling into Loki's room.

Loki liked Tony. Tony was smart, and sarcastic, and sexy, and smarmy when he wanted to be, and all the 's' words that made Loki laugh and feel hot all over. And Tony had a nice ass too.

"Yours as well, darling," chuckled Tony, and Loki realized that he said all that aloud.

They kissed sloppily, their two months of dating leading to this moment. Tony had already lost his virginity by seducing some quarterback who graduated last year - Rogers or something - and taken some girls to his bed also. Loki wanted nothing more than to lose his own to this wonderfully imperfect asshole with the beautifully warm grin and delightfully lewd sense of humor.

They shed their clothes gracelessly, tossing tees over the floor and their jeans. Loki was too drunk to be shy, and Tony's heated body was very tempting. They rubbed together, lying side by side on the bed, and Loki mewled when Tony shifted down, kissing all over his belly and then his hips and then Loki cried out, unable to process the wondrous pleasure that Tony was providing with his bloody _mouth_, and then something slick was spilled on his sensitized skin. He screamed again as Tony did things with his fingers that Loki wasn't quite prepared for and blinding flashes of unexpected pain/pleasure darted through his veins.

The door to Loki's room burst open and Thor stormed in, scaring the two teens. Tony pulled his mouth off Loki's erection and swore, "I thought you said everyone was out-"

"I came home," snarled Thor, and leveled a punch right into Tony's face. Tony was sent flying across the room and there was a sickening crash when Tony collided into the bureau. Thor, heedless of Loki's dazed protests, grabbed Loki's footstool and, as Tony was getting to his feet, swung it into Tony's side. Tony shouted in agony and collapsed against the wall, sliding to the floor. Thor raised his arms again, about to rain down the rest of the blows.

"Thor!" Loki screamed and ran up to his older brother, almost tripping over his feet and the tangle of blankets, and grabbed the bulging muscles of his right arm. "Thor, stop! You'll kill him!"

"That's the idea, yes," said Thor furiously. His gaze never left Tony's battered form at his feet. "How dare he!"

Loki dug his fingers into Thor's skin and finally Thor looked at his younger brother. Loki was breathing erratically and then he gritted out, "Leave, Thor. You've hurt him enough."

"No I haven't-"

"He's my boyfriend, fuck you! Get the hell away from him!"

Thor let go of the remains of the stool and turned to grip Loki by his throat instead. "You would threaten me over an outsider?"

Loki was suddenly reminded of how strong Thor was; the blond young man had been recruited as a football star and weightlifting was part of his daily regime. He could feel his vision sparking out along the edges, and his breath was coming up short.

Tony's movement distracted Thor and he let Loki drop. Thor pushed Tony up against the ruined wall and snarled, "Don't come here again. Get your clothes and get the fuck out of my house."

"He's hurt, he can't move," Loki rasped. He pushed ineffectually at Thor who was barring the way. "Get out of my room, Thor, I'll get him to the hospital."

Thor stalked to the door and yelled for their driver to get the car to the door. Loki, crying helplessly at the severity of the bruises and cuts all over Tony, helped his injured boyfriend into his pants and draped the tee over his shoulders. There was no way Tony could raise his hands to put the shirt on; he probably had some fractured or broken ribs, given how white his face had turned and how sweat was pouring off his brow.

Volstagg was the one who lumbered up and almost caught sight of Loki's nakedness, except that Thor stepped into his line of sight, grabbed Tony, and shoved the injured boy at Volstagg. "Get him to our quack, and send him home safely."

"Got it," said Volstagg.

Loki was still shivering with a combination of fear and shock and arousal, and when Thor reached out for him Loki flinched from his touch. Loki turned burning green eyes on his brother. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he spat angrily. "How could you have done that?"

"Because he was about to take you from me," retorted Thor. He did not move from Loki's room. Instead, he slammed the door and locked it. "I will not have _anyone_ take you from me, Loki."

"I don't _belong_ to _you_!" sceamed Loki. "You - you always do this! Ever since Charles you've always done this! What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Thor was impassive, and his eyes swept over Loki: wild and panting and ruddy with adrenaline.

Loki wet his lips and swiped tears from his cheeks with the back of his hand. "I wish I didn't have you as a brother," he whispered.

"Do you truly?" asked Thor, icy and quiet, and if Loki was less overwrought he would have recognized the danger signs. "If you were not my brother, do you think you'll be happy?"

"Better than this! Better than having you poke and pry and interfere every single fucking time I fall in love, better than having you threaten or actually injuring those that I want to date!"

"They aren't good enough for you!"

"Then who is, Thor? _Who is_? We're not the model American family, in case you hadn't noticed!" Loki was nearly hysterical now, his hands bunched into fists and eyes wide. "Who am I supposed to date, then, when you scare every single one of them off like this! Who am I supposed to love? Who is going to love _me_?"

Thor was on Loki before the younger boy understood what was going on, and when Thor held someone they stay held. Loki pushed hard at Thor's shoulders, and when that was futile he started thrashing about. Instead of letting him go, Thor shoved Loki up against the wall and began to kiss him again, insistent and demanding. Thor's lips and teeth and tongue did odd things to Loki's libido, which was now beginning to surge again after that incredible let-down, and when Thor started grinding into Loki the younger boy keened with unexpected desire.

"No one can have you," repeated Thor, and dragged Loki to his bed, throwing him on it. In his somewhat drunken and adrenaline-fueled haze, Loki decided to slide away from Thor, but the older brother yanked him back, pinning Loki's wrists over his head and holding them there with one meaty hand. With the other he freed his cock from his jeans. Even in his muddled state Loki could see the inherent wrongness of this scenario, and tried to wiggle away, but Thor parted Loki's legs and pressed himself forward, so that his erect cock was brushing against Loki's.

Thor was bracketing Loki entirely, crowding into Loki's sense of personal space, and there was no hint of levity at all in Thor's words. "I will not allow anyone to have you, Loki."

"Thor, brother, we can't-" Loki was unashamedly pleading now, even as his body was responding to the stroking of their cocks; Thor was holding Loki intimately and Loki's hip were moving of their own accord. It was so good, so good and wrong and perfect, the way Thor touched Loki...

"Brother, please, let go." Loki was about to panic; this was wrong. Should their parents come home and see this-

"No," breathed Thor heavily, releasing Loki's hands and spreading Loki's knees further. He hooked his arm under Loki's knee and his other hand reached between Loki's legs, behind his jutting cock, and then something circled his rim. "Has anyone taken you?"

When Loki didn't answer immediately, Thor bent and bit hard on Loki's shoulder. He hissed, "Has anyone taken you?"

"No, oh gods, no, no," Loki replied, the pain blossoming wetly over his skin where Thor was now licking. Thor watched with a strange grimace as Loki's hands scrabbled weakly at Thor's broad chest. The older male licked up and around his fingers, but Loki didn't register the action until Thor reached down again and pushed in something - can't be his cock, the huge heated length was much larger than this - and Loki cried out again and again while Thor used his fingers to ready his brother. His fingers dug into Thor's tanned skin; his thighs jerked and tensed and he kicked out his heels, the action limited by his brother's weight. It was different from how Tony had touched him, so different; Thor was fiery and fierce and bright, his eyes dark with desire, and the possessiveness in the kisses drowning Loki's thoughts into silence.

"Mine," whispered Thor when he pulled his hand away from Loki. By now all the fight had left the dark-haired teen and Thor grinned down darkly. "You'll always be mine."

With a slow, careful thrust, Thor slowly slid into Loki. The younger male gripped Thor's shoulders which were straining with the effort of keeping Thor from just fucking Loki through the bed with no thought of Loki's condition. Loki's mouth was open, gasping for air that would not come; he felt as though he was being ripped apart; his entire body was like a furnace banked _inside_, under his skin, and he could not see, could not see what was around him but Thor, he could feel Thor, oh gods, so much-

Eventually, Thor was buried all the way in Loki. Thor's hand found Loki's flagging erection and coaxed it back to life, and with one look at Loki's blown eyes and gleaming, wet mouth, the coy flush all over milk-white skin, Thor bent to the task of carving himself into Loki. Each thrust was a burning brand, and every time Thor's cock hit his prostate Loki thought he would die from the sheer pain/pleasure, and all the while between them his cock was rubbing over Thor's belly. The friction and Thor's cock drove Loki closer and closer to the brink, and suddenly Loki's fingers sank into the meat of Thor's biceps, his head thrown back as he screamed soundlessly, all breath exiting his body while his hips stutter and then snapped rigid, mindless and devouring all sensation, his body clamping around Thor in a most amazing way.

Thor buried his face into Loki's neck, tongue sweeping up the salty tang of pale skin, his own hips unable to stop or even slow the rhythmic thrusts by then. When his climax came it blinded Thor for a blissfully long moment, even as he spilled into Loki again and again, murmuring nonsense words of endearment (_brother Loki I love Loki brother mine Loki brother mine mine mine Loki)_, ignoring the whimpers of the teenager protesting his oversensitivity. He basked in the limp embrace of Loki's arms and stroked over damp thighs and waist, loving the soft, protesting whimpers that Loki could not hold back.

Eventually the world returned to them, and they gazed wordlessly at each other. The world had changed for them too, and neither knew what to say in that moment.

Thor clung to the thin frame in his arms and drifted from climax to sleep, only remembering to roll to one side when Loki grunted a protest of his weight.

It was warm, trapped in the bed together, and Loki could feel his eyelids closing. He tasted the blood on his split lips, and wondered how long it would take before they would acknowledge that this was probably the most unhealthy development the two brothers could have taken.

And suddenly, Loki realized he didn't care. He wasn't sorry, not one bit, and he knew Thor wasn't either.

As long as he could sleep curled up in Thor's warmth, it didn't fucking matter.

And Thor would make him pancakes too. With extra blueberries.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Events from previous chapter, seen through Thor's perspective**

* * *

Sif tilts her head as she stares at Thor. "I bet he will."

"I bet he won't," declares Thor immediately. He folds his arms and looks past her. "He's very sweet and good and he listens to me and won't let you."

"If I kiss him, he'll kiss me," argues Sif, and before Thor can stop her, she has walked up to Loki - little Loki, playing carefully with his chalks, drawing on the sidewalk a complicated pattern of ferns and boxes and cats - and she stoops and kisses him on the cheek.

Loki's eyes grow wide and he stares, and as Sif beams down at him to ask him for a kiss in return Thor sees the confusion set in on Loki's pretty white face. There is a slight wrinkle in Loki's nose, like he's about to cry or scream or- Thor realises he's running and hitting Sif before he even knows he's doing it, and Loki is screaming for real now for Mother. Mother comes out and pulls Thor off, sends him straight to his room and he goes, stomping angrily back.

Later he gets spanked, and it hurts, and he's hungry because he gets no dinner, but it's all worth it because afterwards, his favorite person in all the world in all the _universe_ comes into his room with bread rolls and an apple. Loki is quiet and snuggles close; Thor knows that his brother is scared, and he doesn't like breaking rules that Father sets, and that loki is convinced that there's a huge snake under Loki's bed. He remembers how his brother had hidden behind him at the zoo when they studied the huge boa constrictor in the snake house. He remembers Loki shivering as the reptile slithered across the enclosure with silent, smooth purpose.

So Thor is very happy when Loki prefers to sleep in the same bed, head tucked under his, them holding each other in silent affirmation that yes, Thor has hit a girl but it was for Loki; yes, Thor is stronger; yes, Thor will always protect Loki from what he doesn't like; and yes, a kiss from a brother and a mother and also a father doesn't have cooties.

* * *

Charles Xavier is a notorious flirt in Thor's school; there are rumors of him having been with almost all the interested boys in the swim team, and apparently he is now working down the list of interested boys in the tennis team.

And now he is talking nineteen to the dozen with Loki.

Thor pays scant attention to the girl with him. He is more interested in Loki's smile and the way his hands move as he describes his latest discovery. Very probably Loki is sharing about his newfound love for Norse mythology, and by the way his fingers dance he is talking about Yggdrasil.

The girl finally gets that Thor is disinterested and wanders off. Thor turns to apologize, and by the time he looks back both Charles and Loki are gone.

Thor leaves the main room of the party - his father and Kurt are in the study, the kitchen is full of caterers, the lounge is already occupied with men bearing cigars and the silvery chime of young ladies - and Thor decides to try his luck upstairs. He finds the sliver of warm orange light coming from one of the rooms, so he heads over and peers in.

They are kissing, Loki awkwardly clutching Charles's shoulder and his face pink, but it is where Charles has placed his hand that makes Thor see red.

"Loki!" he calls out and pulls Charles away from his darling brother. Loki's wrist is almost too thin in Thor's hand; Thor didn't realise how much larger he has grown in comparison until now. Charles has been tossed aside and he turns innocent blue eyes up to Thor, as though he hasn't been trying to sneak a hand up Loki's shirt.

"Don't touch him," he warns Charles. Loki protests and Thor snaps at him, before warning Charles again, "If I see you touch him again, I will throw you down the stairs personally. Don't ever touch him again."

"I didn't mean-"

Thor sees the tumbler of amber liquid and he _knows_, he fucking knows what Charles was planning, what he almost managed to do, and he kicks the whisky into the wall. Thor actually aimed for Charles's face.

"You brought my brother here with whiskey." Thor is staring into frightened, wide blue eyes now, Charles's pale complexion practically white. If Thor isn't holding onto Loki, he would have been strangling Charles. He keeps his hand tightly gripping Loki's forearm and hisses, "You're lucky I didn't break your goddamn back, Xavier. Stay away from my brother, you freak."

He sends Loki home, and when he turns around to join the party he sees Charles studying him calculatively. Thor doesn't pay him any heed and waits in the foyer for his father to conclude his business.

The younger boy comes up to Thor, all lanky limbs and gangly grace. Charles whispers, "If you fuck me once, I'll never talk to him again, or seek him out, and if he looks for me I'll ignore him. How about that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"A trade, Thor. Let me have a taste of your... rage, and then you can rest assured that I won't hassle your younger brother." Charles Xavier smiles like an angel and extends a hand. "They'll be some time yet, Thor. And I do rather _like_ you angry." He tilts his head with its mop of wavy hair and peers with his brilliant sapphire eyes from under dark lashes. "If you need, I can also be so very apologetic while you _punish_ me."

Thor will hate himself afterwards, and he cannot bring himself to apologize to Loki even though he knows that Loki knows nothing about him and Charles. But Xavier keeps his word, and Thor doesn't hear from him again, especially after Kurt Marko's death.

* * *

Fandral is the one who alerts Thor that Tony Stark is back in town after California. Volstagg is the one who tells Thor that Tony is dating Loki. Hogun is the one whom Thor sends to keep an eye on the two to make sure neither of them (Tony) do anything rash (to Loki).

But it is Sif who informs Thor of the two of them sneaking into Tony's buddy's party, Loki obviously looking to get drunk, and Thor orders Hogun to drive them back and fuck all the traffic rules. They hurtle back home and Thor crashes through Loki's door just in the nick of time, because Loki is on his bed and they are _naked-_

Thor doesn't even register what he is doing until Loki is grabbing at his arm, keeping him from smashing Tony's head in.

"You'll kill him!" Loki screams at him, face blotchy and flushed with alcohol and adrenaline.

"That's the idea, yes," snarls Thor. He stares at Tony - _not broken enough, not yet, he is still breathing_ - but his first rush of fury has passed and he is breathing now, calming breaths as his trainer tells him to take.

Thor is shocked when Loki sinks his fingers into Thor's muscles - Loki is trying to cause his brother pain? - and the younger man says quietly, "Leave, Thor. You've hurt him enough."

"No I haven't-" protests Thor, but Loki - _Loki! -_ interrupts him.

"He's my boyfriend, fuck you! Get the hell away from him!" he yells and he lets go of Thor to check on Tony.

Thor releases the stool he is holding and grabs Loki before he can touch Tony again, before Tony's skin will even come into contact with Loki.

"You would threaten me over an outsider?" Thor asks in disbelief. He has difficulty understanding this and he holds Loki aside, trying desperately to see how his brother has changed, and suddenly Tony shifts with a groan. Thor releases Loki and shoves Tony up against the wall. Tony's eyes are wide with agony and that satisfies something deep inside Thor's heart. "Don't come here again. Get your clothes and get the fuck out of my house."

""He's hurt, he can't move," Loki says; he is crying for this waste of space, for this Tony Stark who has always been a waste of space. "Get out of my room, Thor, I'll get him to the hospital."

Thor yells for Volstagg to come and get Tony to their doctor. Volstagg will be discreet and then Thor can check on Loki. Loki who is so different from who he used to be - Loki who is in tears for another man, for someone who has tried to lay claim to Loki - Thor needs to check on Loki.

By the time Tony has been led out of the house, Loki is still shivering with conflicting emotions and he loses control. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he shrieks at Thor. "How could you have done that?"

"Because he was about to take you from me," Thor responds. This is a simple truth. Can't Loki see it? "I will not have anyone take you from me, Loki."

"I don't belong to you!" Loki yells. "You - you always do this! Ever since Charles you've always done this! What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Thor has no answer. He knows that he's keeping Loki for himself. He knows this, but he doesn't understand it. He doesn't want Loki being touched by other men - it's okay for Loki to play with them, to touch them, but they cannot touch him. They mustn't touch what belongs to Thor, and Loki is _Thor's_.

"I wish I didn't have you as a brother," Loki suddenly whispers, his voice soft and raw, and hearing that pisses Thor off more than witnessing Tony going down on Loki did.

This is a different kind of anger, Thor realizes, a chilly, detached one. He asks, "Do you truly? If you were not my brother, do you think you'll be happy?"

Loki glares at him with tear-brightened eyes, glittering like emeralds. "Better than this! Better than having you poke and pry and interfere every single fucking time I fall in love, better than having you threaten or actually injuring those that I want to date!"

"They aren't good enough for you!" Thor bellows back, keenly aware that no one in the universe is good enough for his little brother.

"Then who is, Thor? Who is? We're not the model American family, in case you hadn't noticed!" Loki screams at Thor. He is beautiful like this, Thor thinks, all wild and uncontrolled and crazed and practically glowing with fury and madness and sorrow. "Who am I supposed to date, then, when you scare every single one of them off like this! Who am I supposed to love?"

Doesn't he know? Thor is surprised, and then he is determined. He shoves Loki back, because if Loki doesn't know by now whom he is to love, then Thor will show him. He barely uses all his strength to keep Loki pinned to the wall, devoted as he is to kissing the breath out of his younger brother.

Loki tastes like apples and cinnamon and mint and honey all rolled together, and Thor is instantly addicted. He is hard with desire and love, he knows, and he knows that Loki knows also, given the whine that escapes Loki's throat.

"No one can have you," Thor promises, and manhandles Loki to the bed, his weight pushing Loki down and their bodies meet, chests and abdomens and thighs, and Thor marvels at the perfection that is his brother. Loki's slender wrists are caged by one of Thor's hands and the younger male writhes, his lean muscles catching and displaying the light fantastically, and Thor wants to bury himself in his brother forever and never let go.

"I will not allow anyone to have you, Loki," breathes Thor, the promise turning into an avowal.

"Thor, brother, we can't- Brother, please, let go-" Loki's words fall like pearls and Thor drinks them in, sucks dark bruises into Loki's neck, roaming his free hand all over Loki's naked form and relishing every silky inch.

"No," Thor refuses to budge. His arousal is almost painful now; he _wants _Loki. He needs to claim his own, now. "Has anyone taken you?"

He has to repeat his question because Loki has been lost to his own desire, the mess of sensation that Thor knows he is causing making Loki nearly-delirious. "No, oh gods, no, no," Loki cries when Thor bites his shoulder.

There is a relief almost orgiastic that floods Thor, and he slicks up his fingers. He prepares Loki thoroughly with his hand, and finally Loki's shuddering frame relaxed and pulsed around his fingers. Thor can feel his own mind turning slightly dizzy with anticipation and he grins down at Loki, swearing, "Mine. You'll always be mine."

And the slow, careful thrust into Loki makes Thor close his eyes, it is so good and right and perfect; this is where he belongs, buried and deep inside Loki, joined as one, they _are _one, they are not two and have never been two. Thor pushes in more, hearing Loki's breath hitch, and then he begins to move, edging Loki towards completion. he buries his face into Loki's neck, to inhale the organic sweetness of Loki's hair and taste the delightfully erotic saltiness of his skin. His brother clings increasingly tightly to him in a wild cascade of dark hair and half-sobs and tears and kisses even as Thor strokes Loki with one hand, support him with the other. Loki clenches and pulls Thor closer, closer, and finally the younger man grabs Thor with all his might on a shrill cry, his voice giving out midway, and Thor thinks he hears Loki scream his name.

Thor loses himself in Loki, his body taking on the rhythm even as all he can fathom is_ Loki, Loki, brother, love, my love, forever, Loki, Loki, love, brother, love, mine, mine mine mine Loki _and he comes, hard, spilling into Loki in a surfeit of bliss.

And later, as Loki curls into Thor's larger frame, Thor makes the decision to change schools to move closer, and to make love to Loki so much that his younger brother cannot even think of having another. Thor thinks he is the luckiest man in all the world in all the universe, and he kisses Loki's brow.

He'll make pancakes in the morning, with extra blueberries.


	5. Chapter 5

"Your parents were killed."

Perhaps it is Heimdall's delivery, perhaps it is the bright, hazy Sunday morning, but neither Thor nor Loki quite grasp the concept when the words fell from Heimdall's lips. They stand in the kitchen, in their tees and shorts, still partly through navigating the instructions of a box of easy-make pancake mix.

It takes them time, a few breaths, an eternity of pure clarity, and then the pancake mix falls to the ground and Loki is the first to cover his mouth and cry. He folds into a ball, ending up on the tiled floor and rocking himself to control his weeping.

Thor just stares, and breathes, heavy, lost, and it takes him almost all morning before he can speak a word.

"Who?" is the first thing Thor asks.

"A new group over in the East Sunset quarter. Calls themselves the Giants."

"How?" demands Loki, and it is only Thor who understands that Loki is really asking, _How do we make them pay_.

Loki is barely eighteen then, and Thor just twenty-one. They bury their parents, and in their sorrow they don't forget that they are together, and on this day no one cares that they held hands while the coffins were lowered into the ground, nor does anyone care that Loki sleeps in Thor's room, and now they are alone in the big house so no one knows just how Thor pours out his grief into Loki, and how Loki wears out his heart's sorrow by losing himself in Thor's body.

Then grief is replaced by cold rage, and the brothers decide what needs to be done.

The very next week, they contact the leader. Laufey is huge, six feet five inches tall, and shaven, and speaks like he has never spoken English before.

Loki manages to charm the leader with promises of a collaboration, of merging, and of submitting. He dresses like a teenager, a thin tee shirt that clings well to his lean frame, a too-large checkered shirt over it, and fitting jeans, and revealing a little too much collarbone, and the leader of the group is more than willing to meet on neutral ground.

Thor waits in the chosen garage, unarmed, and they talk. Thor listens to grandiose boasts and insincere apologies, of claims to be 'just doing business'. The leader's men range out, and there are five of them, tall and inked with blue lines around their thick forearms.

Laufey dwarfs even Thor when they shake hands.

There is Thor in the room, and Sif, and Loki. Sif is near the back door, Loki at the front, and there are guards facing them. The remaining three exit the garage to place themselves on the perimeter.

Loki lounges in a chair, eyes on his brother, and when Thor rubs the back of his neck Loki smiles and excuses himself to use the necessary. When he returns he knows that the Three will be taking out those on the outside, and woe betide them if they don't make clean, quiet kills.

Sif catches Loki's grin, and she ties her hair back. It gives the opposing guard a nice view of her rack, but more importantly it keeps her hair from being a hindrance.

Loki goes to Thor, slides a hand over his bicep, and then leans down for a whisper and to give Thor the chance to slip the hammer out from under his side of the table.

Laufey and his guards have guns, but Loki's knives are sharp and fast enough to take down the one at the door before he even draws his weapon. His second knife stabs into Laufey's right elbow. Thor's punch floors Laufey before he can shoot, and the gun skitters. Sif takes down her opponent with a screwdriver snatched up from the worktop driven into his eye. The Three then walk in, Fandral wiping his hands fastidiously as Volstagg lowers the garage door, and Thor hefts the hammer, a look of mild curiosity on his face.

When he gets his left hand on the weapon, Laufey fires the gun wildly, but a tackle from Hogun disarms him. Then Fandral's booted foot lands on Laufey's right wrist, cracking it, while Hogun does the same to his left wrist, before Volstagg joins in the fun with Laufey's ankles.

Loki hops onto the worktop to watch, dark eyes glittering, and his fingers tug playfully at the hem of the borrowed checkered shirt. Thor snags a kiss from him before he walks over to the prone Laufey, and then he signals for the Three to place Laufey on his chair. They pop his shoulders, just for good measure. The stab wound bleeds even more freely.

"It's just business," Thor says to Laufey with a broad smile that does not reach his eyes, and the hammer swings.

It doesn't stop swinging until there is nothing remaining of Laufey's face to identify him.

Then they go home, where Loki prepares dinner for everyone, and they watch a movie by Clint Eastwood.

And if that hammer remains one of Thor's favorite interrogation tools, no one talks about it.


	6. Chapter 6

Not long after their parents died, Thor and Loki's relationship became obvious to all who knew them, and of those who opposed it Heimdall was the only one who dared to say it to their faces.

"I was charged with looking after both of you," he had said sadly one evening when he came into the house and found them curled up together on the sofa, half-naked and more than half-drunk. "This would have broken their hearts. This is wrong."

"Heimdall, they're dead," Loki had countered sourly, pulling on his shirt. "They can't feel a fucking thing."

That callous remark led to Heimdall punching Loki, which led to Thor hitting Heimdall, which led to Loki pulling a gun and shooting Heimdall in the chest, and that eventually led to Loki fleeing the scene in wild fear that he had accidentally killed his father's most loyal lieutenant.

* * *

It also led to Loki finding himself in Southern California with Tony Stark, who had not forgotten Thor's assault but was willing to let Loki work off the debt.

Then again, Tony was always willing to forgive a pretty face.

* * *

Thus, Thor did time for something he did not do, but neither Heimdall nor Thor ever told the truth. It was a short sentence anyway, the city being what it was, and Thor's reputation grew with his prison stint. When he came out, he had practically found himself an army, having secured the loyalties of a dozen men and their own crews who were due to be released soon, and he had his three and he had Sif, who warmed his bed in Loki's absence.

Laufey's gang which had taken advantage of Thor's absence had taken over some of Odin's old grounds, but the Giants with no leader soon fell before the Sons of Odin - Thor's new name for his people. Heimdall left the city, one arm forever maimed by a shattered elbow ("a freak accident", he told the doctors who treated him, but no one could swing a sledgehammer into their own elbow).

It took Thor another three years to break the various gangs' strongholds, and then to replace the District Attorney with someone of his own choosing. He then took over the city inexorably: his money helped to elect government officials, his wrath helped checked the excesses of his people, his charisma won the hearts of the citizens with funding for schools or other civic necessities. The money came from other sources; Thor's hands were never clean for more than a month. He didn't care.

Eventually he made it into the city council. Just a junior member, not important enough to raise the suspicion of any federal agent, but his presence reminded the city's leaders to whom they owe a great deal to.

When his control was secure, he wrote a letter.

Then he waited.

* * *

"You have a letter," Tony tells Loki one autumn evening after they have come back from Stark's latest demonstrations in Iraq.

There is a letter, indeed, and when Loki opens it much later that night after an energetic roll in the sheets he smiles, and then he cries so hard that Tony almost calls Pepper for help with Loki.

* * *

Two days later Thor finds himself a new apartment in a nice neighborhood, very well-protected.

* * *

Loki comes back to the city and he shakes his head with disbelief. It is different, vastly so, and the city no longer knows him after six years.

Thor remembers, though, and he brings Loki to the apartment he selected specially for him.

"You are amazing," Loki tells Thor after a breathless kiss or ten. "You are incredible and amazing and I love you."

"I know."

"I missed you."

"You never wrote."

"...Are you angry with me?"

"Yes, Loki. I am angry," Thor tells his brother. He tugged the slender man into his arms tightly. "I am very angry, Loki, at your leaving me. And you will pay for what you've done." He presses his mouth close to Loki's ear and whispers, "You will pay for it for everything, _brother_."


End file.
